In 2012 I...
- met some of the most amazing ladies I've ever known. I made my first military friends. I cherish the friendship of these girls perhaps not more, but certainly in a different way than all my other friends. They understand my life. When my husband is deployed and I can't sleep at night because he's not next to me, these women will know my pain and welcome my call at any ridiculous hour. When I went for weeks at a time seeing my husband every day, but never really being with him these ladies kept me going. Along with that joy of military friendships comes the sadness of having to say good-bye. I stayed in Florida and had to watch all of my friends leave. It was incredibly difficult to not know the next time I'd see the faces I'd spent so much time with., but I learned they are truly forever friends, even though we're spread out all over the country, and even the world.
- went flexitarian for awhile. Yeah, that got old. I still enjoy vegetarian dishes and by no means have abandoned what I learned from my research, but daaang cooking vegetarian all the time is hard work!
- found purpose. Since getting married in 2010 and moving to the other end of the country, 1,500 miles from the only home I'd ever known, abandoning a job I loved and all the people I knew I spent a lot of time wondering what the heck I was doing. I had no job and couldn't even find possibilities in the small, poor area we were forced to live in. We wouldn't be there long enough for me to go back to school. My life was just monotonous. Then we found a great church that, even though they knew I would leave soon, offered me the opportunity and privilege to work as a leader with their youth group. Coincidentally, the majority of the youth were very similar in many ways to the at-risk youth I so have a passion for. I learned so much and met some incredible kids.
- moved to SoCal! The opportunity to live in sunny, glorious Southern California has been one of the best experiences I've had. We were blessed enough to find an affordable apartment less than two blocks from the beach and 3/4 mile from the cutest downtown area filled with shops, restaurants, and bars. Though I wish our time here wasn't coming to an end in the next month or two, I'm so grateful for the opportunity to experience life here. The sunny skies, perfect temperatures, and laid-back attitude of the people here make it a place that will definitely be hard to leave.
- saw the Grand Canyon, the Petrified Forrest, the Hoover Dam and Vegas for the first time. On our move from Florida to California we decided to take advantage and see all of the big sights on route. Vegas....meh. But the Grand Canyon and the Petrified Forrest were so amazing. It's hard to be in places like that and not find yourself in complete awe of our Creator.
- got my first glimpse of baby fever. Don't go getting excited, I never ever came even close to catching it! In Florida in the months before I left everyone around me had a baby, or got pregnant, or was trying. EVERYONE. Sorry. I'm just so not in that stage of life yet and don't see it hitting me for quite some time, which makes it really hard to relate to the women around you when all they've got on their brains is diapers, bottles, and swollen ankles! Just one more reason I missed all of my friends I met in Florida when they moved -- NONE of them were in baby mode.
- was a bridesmaid for the first time! My best friend since high school, Kaity, got married and I had the privilege of standing by her as she said 'I do'. She was my first friend to get married and I had an absolute blast celebrating her last night as a single lady and her commitment to a super great guy!
So there's some of the things that happened in in 2012. Check back for my look ahead to 2013. It will definitely be a year of changes.
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